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Phil05


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Imagining Capitalism in Interwar Japan: Social Policy, Social Thought, and Social Reform 
Convenors:
Chikara Uchida (The University of Tokyo)
Yufei Zhou (Teikyo University)
Tomoji Onozuka (The University of Tokyo)
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Chair:
Till Knaudt (Kyoto University)
Discussant:
Torsten Weber (DIJ Tokyo)
Section:
Intellectual History and Philosophy
Sessions:
Saturday 28 August, -
Time zone: Europe/Brussels

Short Abstract:

This panel focuses on economists' and entrepreneurs' reflections of capitalism in interwar Japan. By analyzing diverse capitalism-images of social reformists associated with the "Social Policy Association", this panel seeks to re-approach Japan's interwar capitalism from an intellectual aspect.

Long Abstract:

On April 9, 2019, the Japanese government announced new designs for its banknotes. With the selection of Shibusawa Eiichi, a pioneering industrialist and the "father of modern Japanese capitalism" as the face for the ¥10,000 note, the general interest in Japan's capitalism has been rekindled in the post-Lehman era. Our panel focuses on Japan's capitalism in its transitional phase during the interwar period, shedding particular light on Japanese economists' and entrepreneurs' reflections on the cultural, moral, and political effects of capitalism, as well as their effort to change society through social reforms.

The interwar Japanese economy and society was characterized by the prolonged economic slump and social unrest caused by mass unemployment. Compared to the major Western capitalist countries, where institutional measures to negotiate labor-capital tensions had been facilitated during the war mobilization, Japan lacked an efficient mechanism to bargain with the working class. Against the background of the global spread of communism, domestic social problems became a vivid threat for the country's policymakers and think-tanks. Among the advocates of various camps, the intellectuals, politicians, and business leaders affiliated with the "Social Policy Association" (1897-1924) had most convincingly articulated a reformist "third-way" between laissez-faire policies and socialist revolution. Based on their studies pertaining to Europe and the United States and their rich personal networks outside Japan, this group of intellectuals obtained insights into the mechanisms and pitfalls of capitalism through the transnational flow of knowledge and information, and artfully merged them into a structured whole.

Our panel addresses several prominent personages and institutions related to the "Social Policy Association." They include Honda Seiroku (1866-1952), professor of agriculture and the designer of more than 100 modern landscape gardens, who was equally famous as a stock market investor; Kawada Shirō (1883-1942), economist, social policy advocate, and the founding director of the Osaka University of Commerce; and lastly the founding actors of The Ohara Institute for Social Research (1919-). Our panel explores the image of an ideal capitalist society envisioned by Japan's reformist elites during a transitional phase characterized by rising social inequality, military expansion, and Japan's escalating aggression in Asia.

Accepted papers:

Session 1 Saturday 28 August, 2021, -
Panel Video visible to paid-up delegates